UK lays out new nuclear clean up proposals

LONDON, Dec 7 (Reuters) - New nuclear operators in Britain
will have to put money aside for the eventual decommissioning of
plants to make sure taxpayers won't have to foot the bill, the
government said on Tuesday.

The new rules will also require operators to secure enough
funds in place before building new power stations.

"It's vital that we give new nuclear operators as much
clarity about long term costs as possible," Energy Minister
Charles Hendry said.

"At the same time, though, we have to make sure that there
is no hidden subsidy and that the taxpayer is protected from
costs that are rightly the responsibility of the operator."

In June, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne
warned that Britain faced a 4-billion pound ($6.32 billion)
shortfall in covering the costs of nuclear decommissioning and
dealing with waste over the next few years.

The additional costs derive from slowly rising expenditure
on nuclear decommissioning and falling income due to the closure
of ageing power plants, he said.

The government also published on Tuesday the consultation on
Waste Transfer Pricing Methodology to ensure the safe disposal
of radioactive waste from new nuclear power stations without
cost to the taxpayer.

It included a proposed cap on the waste transfer price --
set at three times the current cost estimates -- to give
operators cost certainty.

Nuclear energy is one of the fault lines in the
Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government with the
junior Lib Dems opposing any construction of new nuclear plants.
(Reporting by Karolina Tagaris; editing by James Jukwey)